Tray and two part cover for easy opening and handling

ABSTRACT

A container comprises a tray-shaped bottom part (1) with an opening covered by a cover part. The cover part is sealed to the bottom part along a circumferential rim (10) thereof to form a sealed compartment. The cover part comprises a first cover sheet (2) sealed to the bottom part (1) along a portion (11) of the rim (10) thereof, and a second cover sheet (3) peelably sealed to the first cover sheet (2) and to the bottom part (1) along the remaining portion (12) of the rim (10) thereof. The resulting container is easy to open and to handle without risk of spilling the contents thereof.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a container comprising a tray-shaped bottompart with an opening covered by a flexible cover part sealed to thebottom part along a circumferential rim thereof so as to form a sealedcompartment. The cover part comprises a first cover sheet being sealedto the bottom part along a portion of the rim thereof, and a secondcover sheet being peelably sealed to the first cover sheet and to thebottom part along the remaining portion of the rim thereof and having agripping member extending beyond the sealing line with the bottom partor with the first cover sheet.

BACKGROUND ART

DE-B 2,140,733 discloses a container of the above type and adapted tocontain ready-made dishes to be warmed up in boiling water of an oven,such as a microwave oven, said container comprising a tray-shaped bottompart of aluminium and a cover part of aluminium sealed to the bottompart along the rim thereof. Weakening lines divide the cover part intothree portions, each portion being provided with a gripping member to begripped when the portion in question of the cover part is to be removedfrom the bottom part.

Correspondingly, DK-B 160,702 discloses a container of the above typeand comprising a tray-shaped bottom part and a peelable cover sheet ofpolyester. This container is also suited for freezing and storingarticles of food and can be used later on in connection with the warmingup of said article of food in an oven, such as a microwave oven.

Further, DE-A1 2,840,223 discloses a tobacco pouch of plastic sheet withan opening closed by means of a peelable closure strip.

Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 1,320,757 discloses a sheet metal container ofthe type comprising a cover soldered to a lower part along lines ofsolder. The cover may be torn away along said lines to open thecontainer. The cover comprises two cover sheets of metal solderedtogether along an obliquely extending line which intersects the sidewalls of the container at angles. Furthermore, each cover sheet solderedto the rim of the container wall. At a corner of the overlapping areabetween the two cover sheets each cover sheet is provided with a tongue,which may be gripped for removing the cover sheet in question. Accordingto the publication, it is possible to remove the cover by hand withoutusing a key. However, it should be considered very doubtful whether itwill be possible to break the solder connection and thereby tear off thecover sheet without using tools, such as a key. Under all circumstances,tearing off the cover sheet without using a tool requires such astrength and is connected with such a risk of cutting oneself that veryfew persons would make the attempt at all.

Finally, FR-B1-319,186 discloses a sheet metal container essentiallyonly differing from the container according to U.S. Pat. No. 1,320,757in that a gripping ring is attached to the tongue for tearing off thecover sheet in question by hand.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,320,757 and FR-B1-319,186 thus relate to a completelydifferent type of packing than the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a container of the above type,which is particularly suited for storing and preparing articles of food,and which is easy to open without risk of spilling the contents thereof.

The container according to the invention is characterised in that thebottom part and the first and the second cover sheet are made of alaminate comprising a polymer, said bottom part having an inwardlyfacing laminate layer comprising PE, said first cover sheet having aninwardly facing laminate layer comprising PE, and an outwardly facinglaminate layer comprising PP, and said second cover sheet having aninwardly facing laminate layer comprising PE.

As a result, the peelable cover sheet need only be removed in order toallow access to the interior of the container, said cover sheetpreferably cove a small portion of the opening of the container. As thepeelable sheet can be removed without risk of removing the entire coverpart, the risk of some of the contents being spilled in connection withthe opening is reduced compared to the known containers. In addition, asthe first cover sheet remains on the tray, the entire containerpossesses an improved stability compared to the corresponding knowncontainers after the opening.

According to the invention, the second cover sheet may be peelablysealed to the first cover sheet and the first cover sheet more stronglysealed to the bottom part. Theoretically speaking, the first cover sheetcould also be peelably sealed to the bottom part. It is, however,preferred that the first cover sheet is relatively strongly sealed tothe bottom part, or at least more strongly sealed thereto than thepeelable sheet in such a manner that the risk of a portion of the firstcover sheet being peeled off in connection with the opening of thecontainer is minimized.

In addition, according to the invention, the second peelable cover sheethand, the portion of the opening covered by the peelable sheet should beof such a size that it is possible to pour out the contents of thecontainer.

Moreover according to the invention at least one cover sheet andpreferably both cover sheets may comprise a polymer.

Finally according to the invention the bottom part may be made of aresilient material, which preferably comprises a polymer. Although it ispreferred, of course, to use a relatively resilient or semi-rigid bottompart, it is obvious that a rigid bottom part can also be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of a containeraccording to the invention, and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines II--II of FIG. 1.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The container comprises a tray-shaped bottom part 1 and a cover part 2,3. The expression tray-shaped bottom part should be understood in thebroadest sense as said bottom part can be substantially completely flat,i.e. without side walls, or it can be substantially deeper than shown inthe Figure.

The bottom part 1 is rectangular and comprises a bottom 4. Two pairs ofopposing side walls 5, 6 and 7, 8 extend upwards from the bottom 4 andcontinue at their upper end into a common flange 9, on which the upperrim 10 of the bottom part is positioned.

The cover part 2, 3 comprises a first cover sheet 2, which is relativelyfirmly sealed to the rim 10 of the bottom part 1 along the major portion5 thereof by means of a first welding line 11 illustrated by means ofx'es. The first cover sheet 2 covers the major portion of the opening ofthe tray-shaped bottom part 1. The cover part comprises furthermore asecond cover sheet 3, which is peelably sealed to the remaining portionof the upper rim 10 of the bottom part 1 along a second welding line 12indicated by means of o'es as well as to the first cover sheet 2 bymeans of a welding line 14 provided in the area at the free edge 16 ofthe first cover sheet 2 and indicated by means of triangles.

The second peelable cover sheet 3 extends in an overlapping manner adistance past the welding line 14 with the first cover sheet 2 to form agripping strip 15 being gripped when the peelable cover sheet 3 is to beremoved. Like the adjacent free edge 16 of the first cover sheet, thefree edge 17 of the gripping strip 15 is parallel to the short sidewalls 5, 6 and the rims 18, 19 of the associated flange portions. Inthis manner both cover sheets 2, 3 are advantageously provided withparallel side edges.

In the-above embodiment, the peelable cover sheet 3 extends a distancepast the welding line 14 with the first cover sheet 2 to form a grippingstrip 15. A gripping strip 20 can, however, also or instead be providedby the peelable cover sheet 3 extending a distance past the welding line12 with the upper rim 10 of the bottom part 1, cf. the dotted lines inthe drawing. In this connection, the associated flange portion 9a can beformed with such a width that it is possible to grip said flange portionwithout touching the associated side wall 8 of the bottom part 1. Thepreviously described embodiment can, of course, also advantageously beprovided with such a broad flange portion.

Furthermore, an opening 21 can advantageously be provided in the broadflange portion of the flange 9. The insertion of a device, such as atooth of a fork, into said opening renders it possible to remove thecontainer from boiling water without the fingers coming in contact withsaid water. When the container comprises a further broad flange portion9a which can be gripped without the associated side wall 8 beingtouched, it is possible to open the container without burning thefingers when the container and consequently the contents thereof arewarmed up in boiling water.

The broad flange portion 9a can, of course, be provided according todesire at any or more of the three side walls 7, 8, and 6 associatedwith the peelable cover sheet 3.

The tray-shaped bottom part 1 can be made of any resilient, semi-rigidor rigid material. It is, however, for certain applications and formaterial-saving reasons preferred to use a resilient or semi-rigidlaminate, such as a PE/PA/PE-laminate which has been deepdrawn into thedesired shape and is of a thickness of 150 μm. It is preferred to use arelatively resilient material containing a polymer for the two coversheets. Thus the first cover sheet 2 can be made of for instancePP/PE-laminate of a thickness of for instance 70 μm, the PE-layer facinginwards. The peelable cover sheet 3 can be made of for instance aPA/PE-laminate of substantially the same thickness as the first coversheet, the PE-layer also facing inwards.

The strength of the sealings between the abutting surfaces can becontrolled by means of a suitable material combination of the surfaces.The latter applies both to the composition of the material and to theapplication of a surface coating or the adhesive. The mutual sealing ofthe two cover sheets and the sealing thereof to the bottom part can beperformed by any sealing method, such as by way of thermal sealing andultrasonic sealing.

I claim:
 1. A container comprising a substantially rectangular tray anda flexible cover, said tray comprising two pairs of opposing side wallsand a bottom, defining a compartment, a circumferential rim along thetop of said side walls, and an open top defined by said rim, said opentop covered by said flexible cover which is scaled to said tray alongthe circumferential rim thereof to form a circumferential seal whichseals the compartment, said cover comprising a first cover sheet, sealedby thermal sealing to said tray along a first portion of saidcircumferential seal at a portion of said circumferential rim thereof,and a second cover sheet, peelably sealed by thermal sealing to bothsaid first cover sheet along a sealing line extending parallel to one ofsaid side walls and inwardly of said circumferential seal and to saidtray along the remaining portion of said circumferential seal, saidsecond cover sheet extending past the sealing line to form an unsealedgripping strip with a free edge parallel to the sealing line, whereinsaid tray, said first cover sheet and said second cover sheet are madeof a laminate comprising a polymer, said tray having an inwardly facinglaminate layer comprising PE, said first cover sheet having an inwardlyfacing laminate layer comprising PE and an outwardly facing laminatelayer comprising PP, and said second cover sheet having an inwardlyfacing laminate layer comprising PE.
 2. A container as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said second cover sheet is peelably sealed to saidfirst cover sheet and wherein said first cover sheet is more stronglysealed to said tray.
 3. A container as set forth in claim 1, whereinsaid first cover sheet covers at least 50% of the open top of said tray.4. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein said tray is made ofresilient material.
 5. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidsecond cover sheet extends outwardly beyond the circumferential seal toform a gripping member.
 6. A container as set forth in claim 1, whereinsaid first cover sheet covers at least 75% of the open top of said tray.7. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first cover sheetcovers at least 75 to 95% of the open top of said tray.